MAYBE SHE MEANS IT – AT 7:53 A.M. ET:  While not exactly taking the Sherman Oath, Hillary Clinton has once again rejected any further run for the presidency, and says she will resign from her current position after one term:

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says in an interview with Wolf Blitzer of CNN that she will not serve as Secretary of State in President Obama's second term, should he be re-elected. She also said she had no interest in serving in any other role. Transcript follows:
Q- If the president is reelected, do you want to serve a second term as secretary of state?
No
Q- Would you like to serve as secretary of defense?
No
Q- Would you like to be vice president of the United States?
No
Q- Would you like to be president of the United States?
No

Look, maybe she means it.  Hillary Clinton must, at some point in her life, mean something that she says.  But I tend to be skeptical of anyone in a major position who says that he/she is not interested in the presidency.  After all, Hillary ran for the job, and came within a hair of getting her party's nomination.

As far as leaving her current post, I believe her on that.  Serving in a president's second administration – and that assumes that this incumbent will be reelected, which we don't assume at all – is usually no fun.  Clinton could become the president of any number of colleges. 

By the way, the person most mentioned in Washington as her successor is...I'll wait for you to take your heart medication before revealing the name.  Have you taken it?  Is it all the way down?  The name most mentioned is John Kerry, currently chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.   What a choice!  Do we surrender now, or do we surrender later? 

March 17, 2011